Oracle Cat nips me

Once upon a time there was a bunch of bananas, waiting for a bus. (This story is for Cathy, who likes the bus better than she likes bananas, but likes the idea of bananas waiting for a bus.)

The bananas didn't know the bus routes, didn't know the schedule, didn't have a destination in mind. (Have you ever tried to read the mind of a banana? Talk about a split personality -- & that's just one banana. This was a bunch.) They were just waiting, wanting to be somewhere other than here, trusting that any direction was better than no direction. They weren't new green bananas, fresh off the boat. They were seasoned, mature, ripe bananas. Maybe just a bit past their prime, a few age spots, but still firm, nicely sweetened by their time on the planet. They weren't black. They weren't ready for banana bread, that one-peel-in-the-grave last resort. They were ready to get out & see the world while they were still vital.

There is a happy ending to this story. The next five people to come to this bus stop each took one banana & a different route. The bananas saw the world, or at least the city, before their biological clocks took them to their final rendezvous at the landfill.

Grin.

Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy, also known as SARK, is a fountain of inspiration. One of my favorite things from her website is Jupiter, her black cat, who has a kind of "magic 8 ball" function. You think of a question (mine is always "now what, my darling?") & click on the drawing or photograph (there are many different Jupiters) & get some advice. Frequently it's very cat-centric, like "take a long nap" or "blink slowly" but I just got -- 2 days in a row -- some very good & appropriate advice:

"Don't force growth"

&

"Allow natural timing"

These were particularly apropos for me, because I had submitted some photos & an article via my photography group to a magazine called The Laurel of Asheville. Wouldn't it be cool, I thought, to have photos & writing in a magazine that was practically named after me?

The editorial response was:
"Say, those five photos are nearly identical. I realize that was the gist of her story. Still, from a layout standpoint, there's not enough variety. Also, four of the five were not in sharp focus."

I began a little flurry of trying to find other photos from that particular shoot that would fit in with the sharply-focused one (once I'd figured out which one that was) & after determining that the others weren't really good enough either, took a deep breath & relaxed & decided to continue to work on my photo skills & try again at some future date.

It reminded me of when I started painting & had some nice paintings & some kinda sorta pretty good paintings & took them all down to a coffee shop in Winona for a solo show. I stepped out before I was ready. I'm not sorry I did it, but there is something to be said for allowing the learning & the exploration to be just that & achieving a certain level of mastery before hiring an opening act & scheduling the world tour.

If you want to ask that wise cat some questions, here is the link.

Ask Jupiter

I have had weeks of the BEST conversations. Monday alone I had 4 really good ones. Plus I talked to several people who had been having great conversations -- besides the conversations with me! -- so I am pleased to know that great conversations are lurking in both the likeliest & unlikeliest places.

Blog alternative:
254. Set yourself up for a great conversation. Say a kind word to an interesting-looking stranger or invite a good friend who may or may not live in your house to share a few words. Perhaps ask a question. Perhaps ask yourself a question & share the answer. Giggle out loud when you read something that delights you & let someone ask you what's so funny & read it to them & see where the conversation goes. (& remember, a great conversation doesn't have to be long to make it into the memory banks.)

Snowshine Synchronicity & The Good Habit Gang

Look at the monkey...

In February, I was 15 minutes early for some body work, so I walked down the street & was treated to the sight of fresh-bloomed crocuses & the buzz buzz buzz of the first bees of the season. I didn't have long -- it had taken me about 2 minutes to saunter down to that particular chainlink-fenced yard, so that meant 11 minutes of photography. The pistils & stamens were fascinating & the bees were ready for their close-ups (there were 2 of them there, 2 sweet busy buzzy sisters) & the colors were even more breathtaking than they would have been, being it was such an early spring event. (Since then we've had plenty of winter, including some snowshine yesterday, so I'll get to experience the extra-wow factor again.) This was one of my favorites of the little bouquet of photos I was able to take before hustling back up the street.

I have been happily doing my artist's way exercises & I came to the realization (Have I had it before? Perhaps, in which case it is a re-realization.) that good habits attract other good habits. It's not that I haven't been hanging out with good habits for a while, but it was spotty. You know the friends that you see occasionally & really enjoy it & get a lot out of it but don't make it a regular occurrence? It can be that way with habits, too. Good habits & bad habits, whoever shows up comes on in & either turns on the sitcom & gets out the Cheetos or says, "hey, let's go for a walk & then paint together."

Well, after I started going steady with Art (aka Artist Date) & Page (Morning Pages is her full name) a bunch of other good habits started hanging out with me. They're a band of good buddies with good hearts & kick-ass effectiveness, ready for the adventure. If I've forgotten my pocket handkerchief, some one of them will have an extra, or show me how to blow my nose cowboy style, one nostril at a time & always downwind. I am having a great deal of fun & getting a great deal done.

Besides the good habit brigade, Synchronicity has been hanging out with me as well. The other Monday, as I was leaving my poker SIG (special interest group) at UNCA, having just won the tournament (& chosen as my prize a large black t-shirt with a picture of 3 guys in cowboy hats, jeans & boots standing at a bank of urinals, titled "Texas Hold'em") a song came on the radio, a song that I've been thinking about, fondly & longingly. I'm not sure I've heard it since I moved here, but back in Minnesota it made my friend Cathy (former New Yorker) & I (former Montana girl) very happy. She said it made her miss her childhood in the south. I couldn't remember the title -- "Sweet Southern Childhood?" No, not quite. -- or the artist or enough of the words to plop a sentence into a search engine, so I was dependent on some DJ to present it to me. & there it was! "Sweet Southern Comfort" by Buddy Jewell. Yay! Now I know. I told Cathy, now a Seattleite, so she can tune back into her downsouth roots as well.

& now it's time to get back to my buddies, the Good Habit Gang, who've been reading this blog post over my shoulder as it emerged from my fingers, poking each other & doing some high 5s ("Hey, she's talking about us!" with Art & Page giving each other a proud glance at being specifically singled out.) but now ready to move on to another activity. Walk downtown & get the mail ("Hey, it's sunny & almost fifty degrees!") is on the schedule, right after get dressed. (The habits like to say "Hey" a lot & are fond of exclamation points. No wonder we get along.)

Blog alternative:
253. Invite a good habit to spend some more time with you. (Make room for its buddies.)

Morning paged me, & I answered

the desk at the foot of my bed, jazz added

Once upon a time--

I mean

Today was the best day ever, since yesterday, until tomorrow.

Why?
Because today I was in today.
I took a walk
& watched some movies
& worked on my room
& ate tomato soup & grilled cheese sandwiches
& did some reading
& did some writing
& picked up free art supplies from the streets & sidewalks
& photographed a bunch of bananas waiting for a bus.
Today.
Today!

Once upon today...

& in the morning, morning pages. Yes, that means exactly what you think it does. (If you're thinking what I'm thinking, which you may not be, until after this parenthetical.) Tomorrow (the new today) I am embarking on The Artist's Way, with Cathy & perhaps Elizabeth. Not with exactly, for I am doing it alone, & whether they do it or not, but perhaps they shall parallel play along with me. I did it once before & it changed my freakin' life.

On a different today, a couple todays ago, I sent off a picture book with a timeline of 13.7 billion years. Don't worry, it's not long. Only about 200 words. (If a word paints a hundred million years...)

Oh, & something I've been forgetting to share: a google alert pointed me to a wonderful book trailer for Growing Wings that someone named Vona created for Humanities7. It made me cry. Thanks, Vona.

trailer for Growing Wings

Blog alternative:
252. Hold the day in your hand & pretend it is a free art supply you just picked up from the sidewalk. Cherish it for its own beauty. Add it to other ingredients & make them all more delicious & beautiful. Share if you'd like.

Supreme court orders light to slow down to the speed of sound

Satori dropped her spaghetti

Old milk truck, aluminum boat, motorcycle in a tree, bees rolling in crocus pollen, Ruth at the post office with 7 birthday cards to help celebrate 89 years young (doesn't look a day over 70), Ruth's purple scarf which used to belong to her mother & is only 14 years younger than she is, broken crockery, my hand's shadow petting the tree bark. So many photo opportunities. So many things flashing me that smile & saying, "I'm ready for my close-up!" So much beauty. Hurray for the Earth & all her denizens.

I read some more great books, one a novel by Laurie Frankel titled Goodbye for Now. It's set in Seattle (pay attention, Cathy) & made me laugh & cry & savor sentences & wish it wouldn't end. Yet, it was one of those books that satisfied when it ended. I've already returned it to the library, so I can't give you a pithy quote.

Also (just finished it last night) Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature by Janine M. Benyus, a Montanan. I found this book after picking up the "What would nature do?" winter 2013 copy of Yes! Magazine. Now I need a copy of the magazine to devour, chop up, collage. I might even sleep with it under my pillow, to see what hatches into my dreams.

Now to up the hysterical quotient. I attended a science lecture at UNCA a month or 2 ago & was treated to this quote by French feminist Luce Irigay.

“Is e=mc² a sexed equation? Perhaps it is. Let us make the hypothesis that it is insofar as it privileges the speed of light over other speeds that are vitally necessary to us. What seems to me to indicate the possible sexed nature of the equation is not directly its uses by nuclear weapons, rather it is having privileged what goes the fastest."

I collapsed, laughing, onto the table. Good thing there was a table. Light oughta slow down a little, or maybe sound will feel bad.

 Blog alternative:

251. Read a cool magazine article & look up other work by the author.

Save the ducky! Break the lightbulb!

A couple weeks ago I checked this book out of the library & was astounded by the depth & breadth of practical knowledge. It is also laugh-out-loud funny. Only 168 pages long--including 4 pages of blurbs & a 7-page table of contents--So, You're a creative genius...{now what?} has no fat, except fat juicy wisdom. How & why did Carl King do it this way? I quote from a short section entitled kooky reduction of concepts: "...I like to keep things simple and fun. There's no need to write a page of bloated text when a bullet-point list of five ideas will do. I'm not here for an extended jam session. If you want to read a sentence again, you can just rewind your eyeballs." (& please read the last bit of that section as well, for more brilliance. In fact, please read this entire book, whether you're in a creative career or not. It will make you laugh. It will make you think. It may give you high-octane fuel & remind you how to draw your own roadmap.)

Carl King

Yesterday was a delicious eyeball expedition. The ear canals & the tastebuds & the heart strings also were surprised & delighted. A Mardi Gras parade. A Rumi & Hafiz poetry reading (Hurray Daniel Ladinsky & thank you for The Purity of Desire.) Some pool at Aloft. My debut dinner at Blackbird restaurant. A walk in the rain to the Mardi Gras after-party at Pack's Tavern where I took pictures until the memory card was full & danced & was flooded with N'awlins energy. The day began with a visit to a kinda sorta church to hear some amazing music & drink coffee & devour a brilliant George Bernard Shaw quote (which was misattributed to Oscar Wilde).

"The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them."

I also wrote a haiku after they handed plastic flowers to visitors.

midwinter flowers

stop & smell the plastic

eternal bouquet

I give my friend Cathy Tenzo credit for inspiring haiku energy within me. She is writing a haiku (or 2) everyday this year. Check her out at

Haiku Plate Special

and/or

Yay! Pigeons

Blog alternative:
250. Write a haiku.

The Chief Executive Elephant reminisces

A mother/daughter bookclub in Massachusetts chose Growing Wings for their January selection. Here are the girls, who not only read & discussed the book, but made mobiles for a craft. Sounds like a great group! Thank you, girls & moms.

My car is reset from traveling mode. My laundry is done & put away & I'm wearing clothes that I haven't seen for a month. It's good to be getting things put away. I've even written the first draft of a cool picture book. Just typed it onto the laptop, so revision will ensue.

While the traveling clothes were tumbling in the dryer, I actually took all the clothes (except the fancy dresses--I have more prom dresses than many women) out of my closet & didn't put them back in unless I really liked them. I guess I've already weeded through the garment population, because I only got rid of a couple shirts & one pair of pants. So why don't I wear more of the clothes? It seems I have tried & true favorites that I come back to again & again. Perhaps the other clothes are the understudies, waiting in the wings for the stars to break a seam or spring a zipper. Buttons I can deal with, but otherwise I'm not much for sewing, or at least haven't been. I am eyeing one shirt, a hand-me-down from my dad, that I would like better if it was more tailored to my form. Perhaps I shall get brave & put darts in the back. If I do, I shall report here.

Now, the moment you have been waiting for: a shadowy picture of the chief executive elephant. What is duty of the CEE? Institutional memory, of course.

Blog alternative:
249. Do an arts & craft project inspired by a favorite book. (Thanks for the idea, book club girls.)

Errata Data Tat

One summer, 40 years ago, I lived in this house outside Custer, Montana, while my dad was working construction. My little brother, only 2 that summer, played naked in the mud puddle in the driveway (being from the rocky part of the Rocky Mountains, we were relatively unfamiliar with the concept of "dirt" & "mud") & would stand up in all his mudcovered glory & yell, "Hi hitchies," to the hitchhikers hoping to catch rides at the nearby Prairie Diner. (We called it the "Prairie Dog.") One of the "hitchies" responded with, "Hi, ya little redneck." Mikol also couldn't say his "k" sounds correctly, so he--& all the rest of us--called it "the Tuster House." The diner (now a bar as well) is still there, although it is now called Fort Custer. I had a cup of coffee & the second-to-last piece of caramel apple pie.

I'm soon on the homeward leg of the journey, having holidayed in Montana with my family. A joyous time was had by all, with the exception of several of us, including me, getting a wretched cold. I stayed a bit longer than planned, rather than bringing the cold to people who hadn't already been exposed. But now I've been in Minnesota long enough to hang with Tiffany & Zach & my grand-dogs, Cheese & Mac. Got to visit a bunch of friends here in Rochester & up in Minneapolis. Some OMG great food, especially from a new restaurant on Lake & Lyndale called The Gray House. The menu changes a lot, but the mushrooms are always on it & should NOT be missed. Also, the tea smoked duck at Szechuan Spice (conveniently also on Lake & Lyndale) is extremely delicious. I think tonight we're going out for sushi & beer.

Then it will be on the road again. I had a fun stay at the Best Western in tiny Sundance, Wyoming, where the towels had been made into elephants. I guess the head of housekeeping also makes swans & turtles. (Zach says he guarantees she used to work on a cruise ship.) So very fun. I recommend staying there, should you find yourself on I90 between Rapid City, South Dakota, & Gillette, Wyoming, looking for some shut-eye. Sometime soon, after the appropriate photos have been transferred to the computer, I will show you the CEE, or chief executive elephant.

Even the cold wasn't so very bad, as it got me some more time with my folks. We played more than 80 games of pitch & a bunch of 3-handed cribbage. Zach & Tiff & I played a gamed called Whoonu with Tiffany's mom. It's a superfun game that Cranium foolishly has discontinued, if the guy at Games by James is correct. Maybe I can get it online somewhere. I did get a new game with a store voucher that I'd had for several years, mostly uselessly back in North Carolina. Boggle is a letter grid word game that had an expanded version (alternately named Big Boggle & Master Boggle) that was discontinued for years. Well, Big Boggle is back & so is, drumroll please, Super Big Boggle, which has a 6x6 grid. Guess which one I got...

Blog alternative:

248. Dust off an old board game, even if only to look at the pieces. I don't even have anyone nearby (Nick in California & Cathy in Seattle) who will play Boggle with me, so I played Super Big Boggle solitaire for a while, just to break it in. (When next I find myself in the Cathy &/or Nick vicinity, you can bet I will have Super Big Boggle in my backpack.)